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The upper tier local authority of Hampshire has the highest number of recorded coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government figures.

As of 9am on Wednesday (March 18) Hampshire topped the UK list with 77 cases, seven more than second place Southwark in London.

In addition the Hampshire figure does not include the separate unitary authorities of Portsmouth, four coronavirus cases, Southampton, four cases, and the Isle of Wight, two cases. This gives a total Hampshire county figure of 87.

According to Public Health England (PHE) there are now 2,626 cases of coronavirus throughout the UK with 103 deaths, as of Wednesday morning.

But why are there so many cases in Hampshire? SurreyLive sought to find answers by asking experts in their field.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, suggests the UK picture needs to evolve before judgements can be made.

He says: "It is important to remember that we are still at an early stage of the outbreak, and thus numbers are building and may not be representative of the overall picture in a few weeks and months’ time. There is not a huge difference between Hampshire and elsewhere, 10-20 cases or so.

"There may well have been more local testing done in Hampshire than other regions (Southampton is one of the national laboratories with that capacity).

"We don’t know what proportion of tests carried out in Southampton and elsewhere have been positive, and there may be more undiagnosed cases elsewhere in the UK. So, in such a rapidly evolving situation, I’d be cautious about reading too much into the figures at this point in time."

His colleague Bill Keevil, a professor of environmental healthcare within the school of biological sciences, agreed. He said: "We need to look at the total number of tests undertaken to establish the % positive for Hampshire. London have a lot of reported cases but they have had lots of testing done. We must not forget statistics – 'small numbers' can mislead."

PHE, the government body at the heart of recording confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, suggests that it is just a matter of there being more people in Hampshire.

A spokesperson said: "The dashboard shows the numbers of cases per upper tier local authority, rather than the rate of cases per size of the population. Hampshire has one of the highest populations in the South East, so we would expect the figure to be higher as a result of this."

According to the Office for National Statistics there were 1.376 million people in Hampshire in 2018. Although more than Surrey, 1.19 million and 39 COVID-19 cases, it is fewer than Kent, 1.569 million and 21 cases, and Essex, 1.478 million and 27 cases.

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The spokesperson added: "The measures being taken in Hampshire are the same as everywhere else in the UK. New guidance asks individuals to self-isolate for seven days from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, with any individuals in the household now being asked to self-isolate for 14 days from that moment as well.

"If other members of the household develop symptoms, however mild, at any time during the 14 days, they must not leave the home for seven days from when the symptoms started."

The coronavirus figures for Wednesday recorded the highest amount of daily cases since the outbreak of the virus, at 676. In total 56,221 people have been tested in the UK, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative. Specific location figures within local authorities are not being released by the government.

PHE wants to remind everyone of the importance of washing hands "more often than usual", for 20 seconds using soap and hot water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, or after being in public areas where other people are doing so.